Bengaluru: For the ruling Congress, the Mahadayi river water dispute, which mainly affects people of North Karnataka, cannot be seen on the same plane as Cauvery?
Reason: Success in resolving the dispute would only help the opposition BJP-which is pretty strong in the region- grab the credit after the Congress had done all the hard work by resolving the dispute through talks.
So it was not surprising to hear Chief Minister Siddaramaiah throw broad hints on what the outcome of the October 21 talks at Mumbai would be.
The Mahadayi tribunal, set up to resolve the river dispute, had directed all three states to sit together and work out an amicable solution and therefore, the Maharashtra government has taken the lead to convene the meeting.
While talking to reporters here on Thursday, Mr Siddaramaiah said the onus was on the chief ministers of the respective states to convince their opposition leaders.
“Even I have convened an all-party meeting to discuss this issue," he said. Was he hinting that the talks were doomed with the Goa and Maharashtra CMs highly unlikely to do anything to jeopardize their interests by making their opposition leaders agree to Karnataka’s demand?
Interestingly, four months back when the Kalasa-Banduri agitation was at its peak, Congress leaders including chief minister, Siddaramaiah and party leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge kept telling the media and agitators from Bombay-Karnataka that if the Prime Minister convened a meeting, they would take upon themselves the responsibility of convincing Congress leaders from Maharashtra and Goa to accede to Karnataka’s water demand. Now suddenly, Congress leaders are singing a different tune. Congress leaders like H.K. Patil who participated in a discussion on a TV channel, made this more than evident. A source said that Karnataka Congress leaders are not too keen on the talks succeeding as it would only benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party in the next election in the Bombay-Karnataka region.
“We are not so strong in that region. Even if Karnataka manages to get some relief, the Congress would be at disadvantage. So why work to benefit the BJP? Therefore, our chief minister has changed his stand, there is nothing wrong in it," he explained.
